Reading the Hunger Games
by Peeta's and Finnick's mistress
Summary: Katniss and a few others read the Hunger Games. PM me or add in a review the pairing you want. I'm very flexible I'll do anyone besides Rue and Prim in that is in the room they are reading in
1. Prologue

I know this first chapter is kind of short but I needed this to be just an introduction to get it together. Now, I know how people love reading the reactions of the characters to their own story so if , for example, I make an update on chapter 3 (from the books) and the next update I make a chapter just dedicated to character relationships outside of reading I will most definitely post the next chapter they read together on the same day. So expect this fic to be fast paced and over fairly quickly. ;) Now, reviews make me happy and I will update much faster if you review. If I get 3 reviews before midnight tonight (ET) I will post the next chapter the next day or even within the hour (depends if I'm sleeping yet :P). If not expect an update either two days or three days after the last update. I promise I won't talk this much anymore, well, maybe at the end when everything is said and done (of the fic all together not at the end of a chapter unless something important needs to be addressed) :P Oh and yes, I will be doing all three books. Now on with the story!

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Katniss stilled her movements when she saw her prey. A lynx. She could probably get something real nice for Prim with that coat and meat. It looked startled and moved away from her sight and she stalked it on silent feet. She quickly took a rock and pulled it on her string sending it against a tree near the creature. It is slowly herded into a place where she could hit it when a weird sound echoed through the trees. Katniss look up, accusingly, looking for something she couldn't make out.

**Tick. Tick. Tick.**

A clock? A bomb?

Suddenly fear grips her, _I can't die yet! I need to take care of Prim and keep her safe!_ Katniss screams in her head.

Katniss starts running in the other direction of the noise but it seems to be everywhere. Suddenly a pain starts in the back of her neck and after a second of seeing multicolor trees and stumbling, she pass out.

When she wakes, Katniss notices she's laying on the softest material she has ever felt. It is probably worth a million Lynxes and a couple of fat deer as well. She opens her eyes and she is in some type of sitting room and laying on the carpet with a pillow and a blanket cocooning her. Katniss was laying next to a coffee table that was a light mahogany. There are a bunch of people also asleep all around her and instantly could name a few.

Two sat across from her on a loveseat, one she notices right away as the drunk of District 12, Haymitch Abernathy. Katniss couldn't name the middle aged man sitting next to him passed out with his mouth open and breathing as heavy as Haymitch, though.

Asleep by himself propped up on the floor against the unknown middle aged man's side of the couch, was the Boy with the Bread himself. Peeta Mellark. His blonde locks mused against the armrest and chest rose and fell very peacefully.

Katniss sits up and noticed, surprised, that Gale was asleep on the other side of the coffee table, also peacefully asleep.

She looks to the right of herself and notice a small body curled towards her and immediately she knew it is Prim.

_Prim..._ Katniss chokes, _why is she here as well? _

Katniss looked passed Gale and noticed something odd. It was a small couch that could fit three people and Finnick Odair, the sex symbol of District 4, sleeps nestled between two pretty ladies who rest their heads on his shoulder. Though his head was resting on a brunette sitting to his left.

Finnick Odair? Why him?

She couldn't name the other six faces but one caught her attention. Her black eyelashes danced on her dark skin making her look like she was excited about something. _So pretty,_ Katniss couldn't help but to think. _She reminds me of Prim,_ she noted with a small smile. Sitting next her is an eighteen year old boy with dark skin like the girl but the similarities stop there.

Then sitting all by herself in a comfortable looking chair is a lovely old lady that looks so sweet asleep, all curled into herself.

Then Katniss spots them. Three books litter the coffee table that is sitting innocently in the middle of it all. And sitting on top of the books is a note.

**To all who read this,**

**You must be wondering where you are and why you are here. Now in your possession is a trilogy of the life of Katniss Everdeen. Now, it isn't just a history lesson, it will show you something you need to know. Something that if not said now, will end disastrous and dangerous to all involved. Lives will be lost and all will be ruined. Try to come up with a more unified way to get your cause out. Starting planning a head of time, more then what you have, and start it all with knowing the future. Use these books to your advantage, and do something about it. Otherwise every single one of you in this room will experience darkness and death. If it isn't your own then its someone you love more then anything. In some cases, both. We brought you here to help you understand what is at cost. Learn from our mistakes and try to eliminate the deaths we had to experience. You were all just hit with a mild sedative that should go away in a few hours, it should wear off by the time you awake. However if it doesn't it will in a couple more hours.**

**Enjoy reading.**

By the time Katniss looked up she noticed a few people were already awake and taking in their surroundings and the rest were beginning to stir. She patiently waited until everyone calmed down from their instant reactions to the kidnapping before telling them of the note and books.

"We should introduce ourselves." Katniss say quietly after a moment of awkward silence. "I guess, I'll start. I'm Katniss Everdeen and dandelion salad is my favorite dish."

"I'm Gale Hawthorne and I'm eighteen." Gale piped up from across from her.

"I'm Primrose Everdeen, I'm Katniss' sister."

"I'm Peeta Mellark, I like painting." Peeta was the quietest of them all so far.

"I'm Chaff and I like Spirit" the middle age man said, who was seated next to Haymitch, loudly. Haymitch laughs and just as loud says, "I'm Haymitch Abernathy and I also like Spirit". They both laugh hysterically and when they calmed down to giggles the introductions continued. They must be still drunk but that means they must have been pretty out of it to be still drunk after being unconscious for at least a few hours.

The little old lady was mumbling so quietly the people who didn't know her only caught her name. Mags.

"I'm Johanna Mason." The girl said to the right of Finnick exclaimed defensively. Not bothering with any other information.

"Odair, Finnick Odair. I like swimming," He said dramatically and the brunette to the right of him giggled. Her giggle was off a little bit, almost as if she was insane. Katniss shivered at the thought.

"I'm Annie Cresta and I like the sea." The brunette said with intense eyes and a grin on her face from the previous giggling.

"Thresh. I like working out." The eighteen year old body builder said from his seat next to the Prim-like girl.

"Rue, I like to sing" The little Prim-like girl said softly with bright brown eyes.

"Great! Now we have gotten our little get together all settled." Haymitch begins sarcastically. "Sweetheart you start, its your life, after all." He said roughly before practically throwing the book at Katniss. Gale, Peeta, Prim, and Katniss all glare at him. But Katniss takes the book and opens it to part one.

"**Part One: The Tribute**," Katniss said, reading the title within.

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I'll update the real chapter in a few hours. (I'm still fixing it up (: )


	2. Chapter 2

Katniss was just about to read the chapter when the lights out in the room and a two male voices screamed before two thumps were heard. The lights went on again suddenly and everyone was startled to find two new people added to the collection of in the room. One had a black shirt and stylish pants. Katniss couldn't help but notice the gold eyeliner on him either. The other was a blond hair boy in a plain t-shirt and shorts. The people already in the room introduced themselves again but without the favorite things, only their names and adding which district they were from. Mags, Finnick, and Annie all come from district 4. Chaff, Rue, and Thresh from district 11. Johanna from district 9. Then of course Haymitch, Katniss, Gale, Peeta, and Prim from District 12.

"I'm Cinna, I'm from the Capitol" The man with the golden eyeliner said.

"Cato. District 2" The blond muttered boredom in his voice.

After a few moments of silence.

Katniss began to read.

**The Hunger Games Part 1: The Tribute**

**Chapter 1**

**When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out,**

**seeking Prim's warmth but finding only the rough canvas cover of the mattress.**

**She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother.**

The most smile at that but others, like Johanna, would rather not to show her emotions for fickle things like this.

**Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.**

Everyone tensed and Katniss took an involuntary pause before continuing.

**I prop myself up on one elbow. There's enough light in the bedroom to see**

**them. My little sister, Prim, curled up on her side, cocooned in my mother's body,**

**their cheeks pressed together. **

Prim blushes brightly and Katniss takes a second to smile at her.

**In sleep, my mother looks younger, still worn but not so beaten-down. Prim's**

**face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named.**

**My mother was very beautiful once, too. Or so they tell me.**

_She was, and you are just as beautiful._ Peeta thought.

**Sitting at Prim's knees, guarding her, is the world's ugliest cat.**

"Katniss!" Prim chastised.

"What? He is!" Katniss said teasingly.

"No! He is beautiful! And lovable!" Prim argues.

"Okay, duck, he is." Katniss lies but no one believed her.

**Mashed-in nose, half of one ear missing, eyes the color of rotting squash. Prim named him**

**Buttercup, insisting that his muddy yellow coat matched the bright flower. **

"Sounds pretty ugly to me" Johanna said snidely. Finnick gave her a look of warning but she ignored him.

**He hates me. Or at least distrusts me. Even though it was years ago, I think he still**

**remembers how I tried to drown him in a bucket when Prim brought him home.**

Annie chokes. "You tried to hurt the vittle kitten?" She said this shocked in a baby voice. Almost as if she was talking to him herself. Katniss just nods her head slowly not knowing what to say to that.

**Scrawny kitten, belly swollen with worms, crawling with fleas. **

Annie aww's and everyone looks at her funny. She didn't notice the looks though, lost in the thoughts of kittens.

By this time Cato was done. He laid down to try to go to sleep but everyone heard a loud zap and Cato scream out. "What the F..." Mags covered his mouth and in a mumbled up gummy speech said something about children.

**The last thing I needed was another mouth to feed. But Prim begged so hard, cried even, I had to**

**let him stay. It turned out okay. My mother got rid of the vermin and he's a born**

**mouser. Even catches the occasional rat. Sometimes, when I clean a kill,**

All the victors and Cato raised an eyebrow towards her.

**I feed Buttercup the entrails. He has stopped hissing at me.**

**Entrails. No hissing. This is the closest we will ever come to love.**

"That's a decent agreement." Finnick teases.

**I swing my legs off the bed and slide into my hunting boots.**

"Whoa, wait a second. Brainless can can hunt?" Johanna exclaims. Finnick just looks at Katniss with a calculating look, trying to figure her out.

**Supple leather that** **has molded to my feet. I pull on trousers, a shirt, tuck my long**

**dark braid up into a** **cap, and grab my forage bag. On the table, under a wooden bowl**

**to protect it from** **hungry rats and cats alike, sits a perfect little goat cheese wrapped**

**in basil leaves.** **Prim's gift to me on reaping day. I put the cheese carefully in my**

**pocket as I slip** **outside.**

"Thank you Prim," Katniss said softly in Prim's direction. Prim just smiled brightly and nodded her head and acceptance to the thank you.

**Our part of District 12, nicknamed the Seam, is usually crawling with coal**

**miners heading out to the morning shift at this hour. Men and women with**

**hunched shoulders, swollen knuckles, many who have long since stopped trying to**

**scrub the coal dust out of their broken nails, the lines of their sunken faces. But**

**scrub the coal dust out of their broken nails, the lines of their sunken faces. But**

**today the black cinder streets are empty. Shutters on the squat gray houses are**

**closed. The reaping isn't until two. May as well sleep in. If you can.**

No one really could sleep in, unless you are above the age of eighteen and have no family or close relationships with anyone. Then you probably won't get much sleep from your own depressing life.

**Our house is almost at the edge of the Seam. I only have to pass a few gates to**

**reach the scruffy field called the Meadow. Separating the Meadow from the woods,**

**in fact enclosing all of District 12, is a high chain-link fence topped with barbedwire**

**loops. In theory, it's supposed to be electrified twenty-four hours a day as a**

**deterrent to the predators that live in the woods**

"Or keep people in," Johanna said bitterly. Haymitch and the rest of the victors showing agreement in their own ways.

— **packs of wild dogs, lone**

**cougars, bears — that used to threaten our streets. But since we're lucky to get**

**two or three hours of electricity in the evenings, it's usually safe to touch.**

"You are lucky. The fence is on 24/7 and there is still Peacemakers guarding the gate for any funny ideas." Rue said softly, her voice carrying in the silent room. Thresh nodes his head in agreement.

**Even so,** **I always take a moment to listen carefully for the hum that means the fence**

**is live.** **Right now, it's silent as a stone. Concealed by a clump of bushes, I flatten out on**

**my belly and slide under a two-foot stretch that's been loose for years. There are**

**several other weak spots in the fence, but this one is so close to home I almost**

**always enter the woods here.**

**As soon as I'm in the trees, I retrieve a bow and sheath of arrows from a hollow**

**log.**

"Clever." Finnick muttered to himself. He didn't realize he said it out loud or the fact Gale grinned in his general direction smugly.

**Electrified or not, the fence has been successful at keeping the flesh-eaters**

**out of District 12. Inside the woods they roam freely, and there are added**

**concerns like venomous snakes, rabid animals, and no real paths to follow. But**

**there's also food if you know how to find it. My father knew and he taught me**

**some before he was blown to bits in a mine explosion.**

Katniss, Gale, and Prim all wince at that. Way to be blunt, book Katniss.

**There was nothing even to** **bury. I was eleven then. Five years later, I still wake**

**up screaming for him to run.**

Katniss didn't notice the sympathetic glances from the others.

**Even though trespassing in the woods is illegal and poaching carries the**

**severest of penalties, more people would risk it if they had weapons. But most are**

**not bold enough to venture out with just a knife. My bow is a rarity, crafted by my**

**father along with a few others that I keep well hidden in the woods, carefully**

**wrapped in waterproof covers. My father could have made good money selling**

**them, but if the officials found out he would have been publicly executed for**

**inciting a rebellion. Most of the Peacekeepers turn a blind eye to the few of us who**

**hunt because they're as hungry for fresh meat as anybody is. In fact, they're**

**among our best customers.**

"You sell to the Peacekeepers?" Johanna said shocked. "I knew I called you Brainless for a reason!"

**But the idea that someone might be arming the Seam** **would never have been allowed.**

**In the fall, a few brave souls sneak into the woods to harvest apples. But**

**always in sight of the Meadow. Always close enough to run back to the safety of**

**District 12 if trouble arises. "District Twelve. Where you can starve to death in**

**safety," I mutter.**

"In District 11 you just starve." Rue said. But no one heard her this time. She was way too quiet to be heard.

**Then I glance quickly over my shoulder. Even here, even in the**

**middle of nowhere, you worry someone might overhear you.**

"intelligent, sweetheart," Haymitch said and Chaff nodded.

**When I was younger, I scared my mother to death, the things I would blurt out**

**about District 12, about the people who rule our country, Panem, from the far-off**

**city called the Capitol. **

Haymitch, Chaff, and Finnick all share looks. Maybe she is the one to spark this rebellion.

**Eventually I understood this would only lead us to more**

**trouble. So I learned to hold my tongue and to turn my features into an indifferent**

**mask so that no one could ever read my thoughts. Do my work quietly in school.**

**Make only polite small talk in the public market. **

"Practical, Brainless, practical." Johanna mumbled. Katniss looked at her curiously. "What, it is!" Johanna said defensively.

**Discuss little more than trades in**

**the Hob, which is the black market where I make most of my money. Even at**

**home, where I am less pleasant, I avoid discussing tricky topics. Like the reaping,**

**or food shortages, or the Hunger Games. Prim might begin to repeat my words and**

**then where would we be?**

"I won't! I'm smarter then that!" Prim blurted out.

"I know, duck, but at the time, I couldn't take any chances. I still don't" Katniss whispered to Prim but everyone in the room heard her anyway.

**In the woods waits the only person with whom I can be myself. Gale.**

Katniss' cheeks had a dusting of a blush. Gale just smirked.

** I can feel ****the muscles in my face relaxing, my pace quickening as I climb the hills to our**

**place, **

Finnick whistled and winked at Katniss, "Our place, huh?" He teased. It didn't help that Katniss blushed more at that but not enough to be noticeable from across the room. Thank God for that one. Gale was still smirking.

**a rock ledge overlooking a valley. A thicket of berry bushes protects it from**

**unwanted eyes. The sight of him waiting there brings on a smile. Gale says I never**

**smile except in the woods.**

**"Hey, Catnip," says Gale.**

"Catnip, huh?" Finnick mocks "I still like Kitten" he purrs.

Katniss, Gale, and Peeta glare at him but Finnick just smiles brightly at them. "Continue, Kitten" he purred again.

** My real name is Katniss, but when I first told him, I**

**had barely whispered it. So he thought I'd said Catnip. Then when this crazy lynx**

**started following me around the woods looking for handouts, it became his official**

**nickname for me. I finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game. **

Both Annie and Prim choke on a sob. But Annie muttered, "kitty!". Everyone let them be, mourning the lost cat.

**I almost**

**regretted it because he wasn't bad company.**

Annie shrieked, "See! Kittens are useful!"

** But I got a decent price for his pelt.**

**"Look what I shot," Gale holds up a loaf of bread with an arrow stuck in it, and I**

**laugh. It's real bakery bread, not the flat, dense loaves we make from our grain**

**rations. I take it in my hands, pull out the arrow, and hold the puncture in the crust**

**to my nose, inhaling the fragrance that makes my mouth flood with saliva. Fine**

**bread like this is for special occasions.**

Peeta smiles bitterly at least she'll love him for his bread.

**"Mm, still warm," I say. He must have been at the bakery at the crack of dawn**

**to trade for it. "What did it cost you?"**

**"Just a squirrel. Think the old man was feeling sentimental this morning," says**

**Gale. "Even wished me luck."**

"On the reaping day, he'll trade you for anything. He is really kind that way." Peeta says. Katniss just raises an eyebrow. Cato rolls his eyes. These people are so dramatic.

**"Well, we all feel a little closer today, don't we?" I say, not even bothering to**

**roll my eyes. "Prim left us a cheese." I pull it out.**

**His expression brightens at the treat. "Thank you, Prim. We'll have a real**

**feast." **

"Thanks Prim!" Gale says, smiling at her. Prim smiles brightly and chirps a, "you're welcome!".

**Suddenly he falls into a Capitol accent as he mimics Effie Trinket,**

Haymitch winces. No one should want to mimic her, she isn't very sane.

** the ****maniacally upbeat woman who arrives once a year to read out the names at the**

**leaping. "I almost forgot! Happy Hunger Games!" He plucks a few blackberries**

**from the bushes around us. "And may the odds —" He tosses a berry in a high arc**

**toward me.**

**I catch it in my mouth and break the delicate skin with my teeth. The sweet**

**tartness explodes across my tongue. "— be ever in your favor!" **

"How the Hell do you joke about this?" Johanna snaps. She wants to demand an answer but Katniss reads a head an makes sure to emphasis on the next part.

**I finish with equal ****verve. We have to joke about it because the alternative is to be scared out of your**

**wits. Besides, the Capitol accent is so affected, almost anything sounds funny in it.**

**I watch as Gale pulls out his knife and slices the bread. He could be my**

**brother. **

Gale winces,_ low blow, Katniss, low blow._

Cato smirks and annonces, "Actually they do look a lot alike." He just loved getting under people's skin. If he was going to be stuck here with all these trashy people, he might as well have some fun at it.

**Straight black hair, olive skin, we even have the same gray eyes. But**

**we're not related, at least not closely. Most of the families who work the mines**

**resemble one another this way.**

**That's why my mother and Prim, with their light hair and blue eyes, always look**

**out of place. They are. My mother's parents were part of the small merchant class**

**that caters to officials, Peacekeepers, and the occasional Seam customer. They**

**ran an apothecary shop in the nicer part of District 12. Since almost no one can**

**afford doctors, apothecaries are our healers. **

Cato rolls his eyes again. Such commoners he is surrounded with. Who exactly do they think they are, if he was in the games right now, he would slice them open just for thinking about breathing the same air he breathes.

**My father got to know my mother**

**because on his hunts he would sometimes collect medicinal herbs and sell them to**

**her shop to be brewed into remedies. She must have really loved him to leave her**

**home for the Seam. **

Peeta nodded. _She did._

**I try to remember that when all I can see is the woman who**

**sat by, blank and unreachable, while her children turned to skin and bones. I try to**

**forgive her for my father's sake. But to be honest, I'm not the forgiving type.**

"Katniss, please, don't do that. She loves you!" Prim said softly.

Katniss just smiled painfully and whispered, "I know, Prim, I know. But sometimes that isn't enough."

"Then when is it enough?" Prim said exasperated.

"When she starts to think of her children before herself. Like every mother out there should." Katniss said this in a way that meant that the conversation was over but Prim wanted to continue. A look from Gale made her shrink back to her seat on the floor, pouting.

**Gale spreads the bread slices with the soft goat cheese, carefully placing a**

**basil leaf on each while I strip the bushes of their berries. We settle back in a nook**

**in the rocks. From this place, we are invisible but have a clear view of the valley,**

**which is teeming with summer life, greens to gather, roots to dig, fish iridescent in**

**the sunlight. The day is glorious, with a blue sky and soft breeze. The food's**

**wonderful, with the cheese seeping into the warm bread and the berries bursting**

**in our mouths.**

Gale, Katniss, Finnick, Mags, Rue, and Prim all smile at this. It is such a sweet dream.

** Everything would be perfect if this really was a holiday, if all the**

**day off meant was roaming the mountains with Gale, hunting for tonight's supper.**

**But instead we have to be standing in the square at two o'clock waiting for the**

**names to be called out.**

Someone sighed in disapoinment but no one really knows who did it. Except for Cato, he could really care less about what is going on right now. He just wishes he was back in district 2 training for the Hunger Games the book Katniss is explaining.

**"We could do it, you know," Gale says quietly.**

**"What?" I ask.**

**"Leave the district. Run off. Live in the woods. You and I, we could make it,"**

**says Gale.**

**I don't know how to respond. The idea is so preposterous.**

**"If we didn't have so many kids," he adds quickly.**

Finnick sputters, "kids?" Then he winked suggestively at Katniss. "If you wanted, I could give you a couple of kids to mother." He cooed. Katniss rolled his eyes. Gale, Thresh, and Peeta narrowed their eyes at Finnick. Johanna just hit Finnick on the chest, hard making a loud thump echo throughout the room.

**They're not our kids, of course. But they might as well be. Gale's two little**

**brothers and a sister. Prim. And you may as well throw in our mothers, too,**

**because how would they live without us? Who would fill those mouths that are**

**always asking for more? With both of us hunting daily, there are still nights when**

**game has to be swapped for lard or shoelaces or wool, still nights when we go to**

**bed with our stomachs growling.**

**"I never want to have kids," I say.**

Finnick groaned his disappointment.

**"I might. If I didn't live here," says Gale.**

**"But you do," I say, irritated.**

**"Forget it," he snaps back.**

"Ooh seems someone wanted to..."Finnick began but never finished because Annie covered his mouth with her hand and giggled.

**The conversation feels all wrong. Leave? How could I leave Prim, who is the**

**only person in the world I'm certain I love? And Gale is devoted to his family. We**

**can't leave, so why bother talking about it? And even if we did . . . even if we did .**

**. . where did this stuff about having kids come from? There's never been anything**

**romantic between Gale and me. When we met, I was a skinny twelve-year-old, and**

**although he was only two years older, he already looked like a man. **

Gale smirked.

**It took a long ****time for us to even become friends, to stop haggling over every trade and begin**

**helping each other out.**

**Besides, if he wants kids, Gale won't have any trouble finding a wife.**

**He's ****good-looking, he's strong enough to handle the work in the mines, and he can**

**hunt. **

"Thank you, Catnip." Gale said, still smirking. Katniss was blushing again.

**You can tell by the way the girls whisper about him when he walks by in**

**school that they want him. It makes me jealous**

"It looks like you still have a chance, Gale" Finnick said whispering loudly to Gale.

Cato snapped.

"Could you STOP with the fucking interruptions? I want to leave this damn room and go back to my district! You are so annoying Odair! Shut up!" Cato screams threateningly.

"Ooh it looks like someone else is jealous." Finnick muttered to himself. However only Johanna and Annie heard him and it made Johanna roll her eyes and Annie giggled.

** but not for the reason people ****school that they want him. It makes me jealous **

**but not for the reason people ****would think. Good hunting partners are hard to find.**

**"What do you want to do?" I ask. We can hunt, fish, or gather.**

**"Let's fish at the lake. We can leave our poles and gather in the woods. Get**

**something nice for tonight," he says.**

**Tonight. After the reaping, everyone is supposed to celebrate. And a lot of**

**people do, out of relief that their children have been spared for another year. But**

**at least two families will pull their shutters, lock their doors, and try to figure out**

**how they will survive the painful weeks to come.**

**We make out well. The predators ignore us on a day when easier, tastier prey**

**abounds. By late morning, we have a dozen fish, a bag of greens and, best of all, a**

**gallon of strawberries. I found the patch a few years ago, but Gale had the idea to**

**string mesh nets around it to keep out the animals.**

"Smart." Johanna said.

"Thank you" Gale said brightly.

**On the way home, we swing by the Hob, the black mar ket that operates in an**

**abandoned warehouse that once held coal. When they came up with a more**

**efficient system that transported the coal directly from the mines to the trains, the**

**Hob gradually took over the space. Most businesses are closed by this time on**

**reaping day, but the black market's still fairly busy. We easily trade six of the fish**

**for good bread, the other two for salt. Greasy Sae, the bony old woman who sells**

**bowls of hot soup from a large kettle, takes half the greens off our hands in**

**exchange for a couple of chunks of paraffin. We might do a tad better elsewhere,**

**but we make an effort to keep on good terms with Greasy Sae. She's the only one**

**who can consistently be counted on to buy wild dog. We don't hunt them on**

**purpose, but if you're attacked and you take out a dog or two, well, meat is meat.**

**"Once it's in the soup, I'll call it beef," **

"Eww" Annie said loudly.

"It's good!" Gale exclaimed.

"But, eww!" Annie complained.

"You should try it some time. You couldn't even tell the difference." Gale continued. He was already planning on sneaking some in. Annie just eww'd again.

**Greasy Sae says with a wink. No one in the**

**Seam would turn up their nose at a good leg of wild dog, but the Peacekeepers**

**who come to the Hob can afford to be a little choosier.**

**When we finish our business at the market, we go to the back door of the**

**mayor's house to sell half the strawberries, knowing he has a particular fondness**

**for them and can afford our price. **

"And you sell to the mayor! Holy shit Brainless, you ARE brainless!" Johanna said.

Kaniss and Gale grin at her. Hey, at least they are making money.

**The mayor's daughter, Madge, opens the door.**

**She's in my year at school. Being the mayor's daughter, you'd expect her to be a**

**snob, but she's all right. She just keeps to herself. Like me.**

ZAPP "MOTHER FUCKER! I'm up! I'm up!" Cato yelled. Everyone had to cover their laughter so he wouldn't get even more mad.

** Since neither of us ****really has a group of friends, we seem to end up together a **

**lot at school. Eating ****lunch, sitting next to each other at assemblies, partnering**

**for sports activities. We ****rarely talk, which suits us both just fine.**

"I always thought you guys were friends." Peeta said.

"No, not really. Just kept each other from being alone at school." Katniss explains.

**Today her drab school outfit has been replaced by an expensive white dress,**

**and her blonde hair is done up with a pink ribbon. Reaping clothes.**

**"Pretty dress," says Gale.**

**Madge shoots him a look, trying to see if it's a genuine compliment or if he's**

**just being ironic. It is a pretty dress, but she would never be wearing it ordinarily.**

**She presses her lips together and then smiles. "Well, if I end up going to the**

**Capitol, I want to look nice, don't I?"**

Katniss winced. What could she have, only 6 slips of paper that said her name in the reaping? Katniss had about twenty slips of paper that said her name on it. And Gale had twice as many.

**Now it's Gale's turn to be confused. Does she mean it? Or is she messing with**

**him? I'm guessing the second.**

**"You won't be going to the Capitol," says Gale coolly. His eyes land on a small,**

**circular pin that adorns her dress. Real gold. Beautifully crafted. It could keep a**

**family in bread for months. "What can you have? Five entries? I had six when I was**

**just twelve years old."**

**"That's not her fault," I say.**

**"No, it's no one's fault. Just the way it is," says Gale. Madge's face has become**

**closed off. She puts the money for the berries in my hand. "Good luck, Katniss."**

**"You, too," I say, and the door closes.**

"Well that's nice of her." Gale said to Katniss. Katniss just nodded.

**We walk toward the Seam in silence. I don't like that Gale took a dig at Madge,**

**but he's right, of course. The reaping system is unfair, with the poor getting the**

**worst of it. You become eligible for the reaping the day you turn twelve. That year,**

**your name is entered once. At thirteen, twice. And so on and so on until you reach**

**the age of eigh teen, the final year of eligibility, when your name goes into the pool**

**seven times. That's true for every citizen in all twelve districts in the entire**

**country of Panem.**

**But here's the catch. Say you are poor and starving as we were. You can opt to**

**add your name more times in exchange for tesserae. Each tessera is worth a**

**meager year's supply of grain and oil for one person. You may do this for each of**

**your family members as well. So, at the age of twelve, I had my name entered four**

**times. Once, because I had to, and three times for tesserae for grain and oil for**

**myself, Prim, and my mother. In fact, every year I have needed to do this. And the**

**entries are cumulative. So now, at the age of sixteen, my name will be in the**

**reaping twenty times. Gale, who is eighteen and has been either helping or singlehandedly**

**feeding a family of five for seven years, will have his name in forty-two**

**times.**

Both Katniss and Gale wince. The victors and Cinna look sympathetic at them. The odds in their favor are not so good.

**You can see why someone like Madge, who has never been at risk of needing a**

**tessera, can set him off. The chance of her name being drawn is very slim**

**compared to those of us who live in the Seam. Not impossible, but slim. And even**

**though the rules were set up by the Capitol, not the districts, certainly not Madge's**

**family, it's hard not to resent those who don't have to sign up for tesserae.**

"That's the whole point. Together we stand, divided we fall." Finnick quoted. Haymitch, Chaff, Johanna, Mags, and Annie all nod in agreement.

**Gale knows his anger at Madge is misdirected. On other days, deep in the**

**woods, I've listened to him rant about how the tesserae are just another tool to**

**cause misery in our district. A way to plant hatred between the starving workers of**

**the Seam and those who can generally count on supper and thereby ensure we**

**will never trust one another. "It's to the Capitol's advantage to have us divided**

**among ourselves," he might say if there were no ears to hear but mine. If it wasn't**

**reaping day. If a girl with a gold pin and no tesserae had not made what I'm sure**

**she thought was a harmless comment.**

**As we walk, I glance over at Gale's face, still smoldering underneath his stony**

**expression. His rages seem pointless to me, although I never say so. It's not that I**

**don't agree with him. I do. But what good is yelling about the Capitol in the middle**

**of the woods? It doesn't change anything. It doesn't make things fair. It doesn't fill**

**our stomachs. In fact, it scares off the nearby game. I let him yell though. Better**

**he does it in the woods than in the district.**

"Smart." Haymitch commented.

**Gale and I divide our spoils, leaving two fish, a couple of loaves of good bread,**

**greens, a quart of strawberries, salt, paraffin, and a bit of money for each.**

**"See you in the square," I say.**

**"Wear something pretty," he says flatly.**

"I bet you do want her to wear something pretty." Finnick teased. Gale and Katniss just blushed.

**At home, I find my mother and sister are ready to go. My mother wears a fine**

**dress from her apothecary days. Prim is in my first reaping outfit, a skirt and**

**ruffled blouse. It's a bit big on her, but my mother has made it stay with pins. Even**

**so, she's having trouble keeping the blouse tucked in at the back.**

**A tub of warm water waits for me. I scrub off the dirt and sweat from the woods**

**and even wash my hair. To my surprise, my mother has laid out one of her own**

**lovely dresses for me. **

**A soft blue thing with matching shoes.**

"Nice choice. A soft blue would bring out the silver of your eyes and make your pale skin glow." Cinna added. Katniss looked surprised. This is the first time she heard him speak since he introduced himself. He just smiled kindly at her.

**"Are you sure?" I ask. I'm trying to get past rejecting offers of help from her.**

**For a while, I was so angry, I wouldn't allow her to do anything for me. And this is**

**something special. Her clothes from her past are very precious to her.**

**"Of course. Let's put your hair up, too," she says. I let her towel-dry it and**

**braid it up on my head. I can hardly recognize myself in the cracked mirror that**

**leans against the wall.**

**"You look beautiful," says Prim in a hushed voice.**

**"And nothing like myself," I say. I hug her, because I know these next few**

**hours will be terrible for her. Her first reaping.**

Prim and Katniss wince and shiver at this.

** She's about as safe as you can get, ****since she's only entered once. I wouldn't**

** let her take out any tesserae. But she's ****worried about me. That the unthinkable **

**might happen.**

**I protect Prim in every way I can, but I'm powerless against the reaping. **

Katniss voice shakes.

**The ****anguish I always feel when she's in pain wells up in my chest and threatens to**

**register on my face. I notice her blouse has pulled out of her skirt in the back**

**again and force myself to stay calm. "Tuck your tail in, little duck," I say,**

**smoothing the blouse back in place.**

**Prim giggles and gives me a small "Quack."**

Rue, Katniss, and Prim smile. Annie and Johanna aww's. Mags give them a toothless grin.

**"Quack yourself," I say with a light laugh. The kind only Prim can draw out of**

**me. **

Prim smiles. Gale pouts in the corner. Cato is rolling his eyes again.

**"Come on, let's eat," I say and plant a quick kiss on the top of her head.**

**The fish and greens are already cooking in a stew, but that will be for supper.**

**We decide to save the strawberries and bakery bread for this evening's meal, to**

**make it special we say. Instead we drink milk from Prim's goat, Lady, and eat the**

**rough bread made from the tessera grain, although no one has much appetite**

**anyway.**

**At one o'clock, we head for the square. Attendance is mandatory unless you**

**are on death's door. This evening, officials will come around and check to see if**

**this is the case. If not, you'll be imprisoned.**

**It's too bad, really, that they hold the reaping in the square — one of the few**

**places in District 12 that can be pleasant. The square's surrounded by shops, and**

**on public market days, especially if there's good weather, it has a holiday feel to**

**it.**

Haymitch snorts humorously at that. Holiday feel? Yeah right.

** But today, despite the bright banners hanging on the buildings, there's an air of**

**grimness. The camera crews, perched like buzzards on rooftops, only add to the**

**effect.**

**People file in silently and sign in. The reaping is a good opportunity for the**

**Capitol to keep tabs on the population as well. Twelve- through eighteen-year-olds**

**are herded into roped areas marked off by ages, the oldest in the front, the young**

**ones, like Prim, toward the back. Family members line up around the perimeter,**

**holding tightly to one another's hands. But there are others, too, who have no one**

**they love at stake, or who no longer care, who slip among the crowd, taking bets**

**on the two kids whose names will be drawn. Odds are given on their ages, whether**

**they're Seam or merchant, if they will break down and weep. Most refuse dealing**

**with the racketeers but carefully, carefully. These same people tend to be**

**informers, and who hasn't broken the law? I could be shot on a daily basis for**

**hunting, but the appetites of those in charge protect me. Not everyone can claim**

**the same.**

**Anyway, Gale and I agree that if we have to choose between dying of hunger**

**and a bullet in the head, the bul let would be much quicker.**

****"Smart, sweetheart." Haymitch says

Katniss just shrugs, it's true.

**The space gets tighter, more claustrophobic as people arrive. The square's**

**quite large, but not enough to hold District 12's population of about eight**

**thousand. Latecomers are directed to the adjacent streets, where they can watch**

**the event on screens as it's televised live by the state.**

**I find myself standing in a clump of sixteens from the Seam. We all exchange**

**terse nods then focus our attention on the temporary stage that is set up before**

**the Justice Building. It holds three chairs, a podium, and two large glass balls, one**

**for the boys and one for the girls. I stare at the paper slips in the girls' ball. Twenty**

**of them have Katniss Everdeen written on them in careful handwriting.**

****"Stop thinking about that!" Prim lectures.

"Yeah, Catnip, your twenty slips are twenty out of thousands." Gale adds.

**Two of the three chairs fill with Madge's father, Mayor Undersee, who's a tall,**

**balding man, and Effie Trinket, District 12's escort, fresh from the Capitol with her**

**scary white grin, pinkish hair, and spring green suit. They murmur to each other**

**and then look with concern at the empty seat.**

**Just as the town clock strikes two, the mayor steps up to the podium and**

**begins to read. It's the same story every year. He tells of the history of Panem, the**

**country that rose up out of the ashes of a place that was once called North**

**America. He lists the disasters, the droughts, the storms, the fires, the**

**encroaching seas that swallowed up so much of the land, the brutal war for what**

**little sustenance remained. The result was Panem, a shining Capitol ringed by**

**thirteen districts, which brought peace and prosperity to its citizens. Then came**

**the Dark Days, the uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve were**

**defeated, the thirteenth obliterated. The Treaty of Treason gave us the new laws**

**to guarantee peace and, as our yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be**

**repeated, it gave us the Hunger Games.**

"Is that necessary? We really don't need a history lesson." Cato snaps. Everyone ignores him though.

**The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising,**

**each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to**

**participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena**

**that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a**

**period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute**

**standing wins.**

**Taking the kids from our districts, forcing them to kill one another while we**

**watch —**

The victors all cringe. Reminded of their own games.

** this is the Capitol's way of reminding us how totally we are at their**

**mercy. How little chance we would stand of surviving another rebellion.**

**Whatever words they use, the real message is clear. "Look how we take your**

**children and sacrifice them and there's nothing you can do. If you lift a finger, we**

**will destroy every last one of you. Just as we did in District Thirteen."**

**To make it humiliating as well as torturous, the Capitol requires us to treat the**

**Hunger Games as a festivity, a sporting event pitting every district against the**

**others. The last tribute alive receives a life of ease back home, and their dis trict**

**will be showered with prizes, largely consisting of food. All year, the Capitol will**

**show the winning district gifts of grain and oil and even delicacies like sugar while**

**the rest of us battle starvation.**

**"It is both a time for repentance and a time for thanks," intones the mayor.**

**Then he reads the list of past District 12 victors. In seventy-four years, we have**

**had exactly two. Only one is still alive. Haymitch Abernathy, a paunchy, middleaged**

**man, who at this moment appears hollering something unintelligible,**

**staggers onto the stage, and falls into the third chair. He's drunk. Very. The crowd**

**responds with its token applause, but he's confused and tries to give Effie Trinket**

**a big hug, which she barely manages to fend off.**

Chaff burst out laughing. "If you were sober you wouldn't want to touch her with a meter stick! Oh man, its going to be great to see when you are sober and remember what happened!"

**The mayor looks distressed. Since all of this is being televised, right now**

**District 12 is the laughingstock of Panem, and he knows it. He quickly tries to pull**

**the attention back to the reaping by introducing Effie Trinket.**

**Bright and bubbly as ever, Effie Trinket trots to the podium and gives her**

**signature, "Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!" Her**

**pink hair must be a wig because her curls have shifted slightly off-center since her**

**encounter with Haymitch.**

Cinna grins. She needs a better wig if that keeps happening.

**She goes on a bit about what an honor it is to be here,**

**although everyone knows she's just aching to get bumped up to a better district**

**where they have proper victors, not drunks who molest you in front of the entire**

**nation.**

**Through the crowd, I spot Gale looking back at me with a ghost of a smile. As**

**reapings go, this one at least has a slight entertainment factor. But suddenly I am**

**thinking of Gale and his forty-two names in that big glass ball and how the odds**

**are not in his favor. Not compared to a lot of the boys. And maybe he's thinking**

**the same thing about me because his face darkens and he turns away. "But there**

**are still thousands of slips," I wish I could whisper to him.**

"See, Catnip, there are thousands of slips in there." Gale says, trying to comfort. Cato doesn't get it. Why are they so traumatized for being reaped? They should be honored. They could bring honor to their district. It just doesn't make any sense.

**It's time for the drawing. Effie Trinket says as she always does, "Ladies first!"**

**and crosses to the glass ball with the girls' names. She reaches in, digs her hand**

**deep into the ball, and pulls out a slip of paper. The crowd draws in a collective**

**breath and then you can hear a pin drop, and I'm feeling nauseous and so**

**desperately hoping that it's not me, that it's not me, that it's not me.**

**Effie Trinket crosses back to the podium, smoothes the slip of paper, and reads**

**out the name in a clear voice. And it's not me.**

Katniss, Gale, and Prim give a sigh of relief.

**It's**

Katniss freezes. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" She sobs out. Gale rushed around the table and clutches tight to him and let her cry on him. Finnick, Peeta, and Thresh all look a little jealous at that. Peeta more so then the other two. Peeta picks up the book and reads off the name with a wide eyed expression.

** Primrose Everdeen.**

Katniss gives another loud "No!" and continued to sob on Gale.

"No, Katniss. Don't do what I think you are going to do! Please don't do it!" Prim says teary eyed.

"It's already set in stone, Prim, we can't change it." Gale says to nods her head. She knows it, but doesn't want to accept it.

Finnick steps in, "I'll read the next chapter."

"**Chapter 2,**" Finnick began.

* * *

So sorry, I fell asleep then I had school . I'll add a few more chapters today. I am just about to begin on chapter two right now. It shouldn't take me long (:


	3. AN Sorry Guys! This needs to be said

Okay. I know for a fact this is against the rules. I cannot put an author note in the chapter index but I can't let this go unnoticed. Okay if you want to report my story. Go right a head. I could give two shits. This isn't plagiarism. I have a disclaimer (on my page) about this. That is why this "story" is mostly in bold. Bold means NOT MINE! I don't own the characters or anything. But what would be the point of making a Fanfiction if I just repeating the book without anything. I could easily name a lot of fanfictions that use a book word for word. It would be so fucking boring if I just "described" what was going on in the books. I doubt anyone would fucking read that shit. I know I wouldn't. Here. Let me name a few "stories" that are JUST LIKE MINE! Maybe not the same category but LIKE MINE NONE THE FUCKING SAME!

The Order Reads Harry Potter and the Philosophers' Stone by Nix54

Harry and Sophie: Reading the Chamber of Secrets » by RedRoseMana

Hogwarts read the Prisoner of Azkaban » by MissCHSparkles

Reading at Hogwarts: The Goblet of Fire » by abbzeh

Reading at Hogwarts: The Chamber of Secrets » by abbzeh

Reading at Hogwarts: The Prisoner of Azkaban » by abbzeh

Reading at Hogwarts: Harry Potter: Book 1 » by TheCharactersReadGirlHP

Reading Deathly Hallows: The Order of the Phoenix » by Fawkesgirl22

The Order Reads Harry Potter and the Chamber » by nix54

(2329 FOUND IN HARRY POTTER! WORD FOR WORD! (+30,000 words))

Cullens read Twilight and Midnight Sun » by ssssa

Reading the Twilight Saga to Save Bella » by PerceptiveSoul

Charlie Cullens & Wolves read: Twilight » by KPtwistepghost

Cullen's Read Twilight: A Book of Truth » by miseryxparade

Charlie reads New Moon » by Direwolfy

(OVER 900 FOUND IN TWILIGHT! WORD FOR WORD!(+30,000 words))

Reading Catching Fire » by Choices HP

Reading the hunger games » by Mockingdandelion

Reading the Hunger Games » by Choices HP

Reading the Hunger Games: Book 1 » by zxskunkmuffinxz

(ABOUT 50 FOUND IN HUNGER GAMES! WORD FOR WORD!(+30,000 words))

If you are going to delete and report my "story" then think about the other thousands of stories that are just like mine and I am urging you to report the rest of them too! Because I think that is unfair and STUPID.

Thank you.

Oh and Sorry I made a typo. Johanna is from District 7 not 9. Thank you BookwarmBabe9311 for telling me (:

If it is reported and deleted then I'm sorry to the 7 Alerts 6 favorites and 4 reviewers who were with me for the two days this story was alive.


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